I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.
Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 3-4.
Moses concludes his summary of the journey which the Children of Israel took from Mt. Sinai to the eastern bank of the Jordan River by telling them what all of those events should mean to them. There were two elements to the lesson Moses wanted the Israelites to take from the history he recited. The story of their travels taught them the danger of breaking their covenant with God. If they failed to keep that covenant they would not live in the land they were about to enter for very long. The most important part of that covenant was that they should not worship any material thing, whether an object they created as representative of God, or a natural object (such as the sun) which they perceived as representing the magnificence of God.
The other element of what they, and we, should learn from the story of their travels is that there is only one God. The choice we make in idolatry is not which god we worship. The choice is whether we worship God, or something He created. Logic dictates that this is indeed the case. If God is the Creator of the universe and everything in it, then there can be no other being which deserves our worship (simplifying the logic slightly to keep things short). On the other hand, if God is not the Creator of the universe, then He is not deserving of our worship in the first place. The story of the Israelites’ journey provides evidence that God is indeed the Creator.
Which brings us to something of utmost importance. Moses told the Children of Israel that they WOULD, sooner or later, break God’s covenant with them and be exiled from the land God was giving them. However, he made them a promise, a promise which God makes to every human being. If we seek God with all of our heart and soul, with all of our being, we WILL find Him. This is something I have seen again and again among those I know. An important corollary to this is that we must be willing to accept God when we find Him. I have known people who have sought God with all of their being, only to reject Him when they discovered what He was. They were unwilling, for one reason or another, to accept God when they found Him. This is the source of most, if not all, idolatry. The desire to enter into a relationship with God, but the unwillingness to accept Him for what He truly is.